1 . In a bustling city in Arizona stood a high school where most of the students live in poverty. Among them were four sons of Mexican immigrants, Juan, Oscar, Luis, and Alfredo. These boys, coming from ________ backgrounds, often found themselves overlooked and underestimated. Bonded by fate and friendship, they shared a common passion for ________. Two science teachers there decided to enter their high school into a complicated ________ robotics competition sponsored by the NASA and the Naval Research. Excited for the news, these four boys signed up for the competition.

With enthusiasm and energy, they started calling mechanical engineers for design help. They were ________ that these kinds of robots require glass syntactic flotation foam, a type of floating material used in various marine applications.________ money, all they could afford was some PVC pipes and duct tape (强力胶布).________, they searched the city for various spare parts, gathering whatever they could to bring their vision to life. With the teachers’ guidance and encouragement, they ________ together a robot with no more than metal and wires.

As they worked on their robot, the boys also faced personal challenges. Juan struggled with the weight of family responsibilities; Oscar ________ a deep-seated fear of failure; Luis’s heart ached from the constant peers’ mockery (嘲笑) for his ________ accent, and Alfredo longed for acceptance and belonging.________ these obstacles, they persevered, leaning on each other for support and inspiration.

After a few test runs of their robot, they piled into a second-hand van to head to the competition. Upon entering the main pool area, they noticed the college teams wearing matching outfits, with robots sponsored by big companies. Feeling a bit nervous, the boys put the robot in the water for a test run.________, the PVC didn’t hold up, causing the robot to leak and sink.

However, instead of letting this ________ ruin their spirits, the boys put their heads together and came up with a brilliant solution. 12 hours later, armed with 8 super-absorbent pads to plug the leak, the robot was ________ into the pool again. This time, their robot performed admirably. Gliding gracefully through the waters, it navigated the course with precision and speed,________ the judges and audience alike. This underwater robot, a symbol of their determination and ________, conquered the waters, defeated engineering powerhouse MIT and ranked first in the country. This was not just a win for those four but a victory for every underdog with a dream.

The History of Snacks

Hamburgers, sandwiches and pizza are some of the worlds’ favourite snacks, but have you ever wondered     1     first ate them? Read on to find out more.

The hamburger started life as small pieces of raw beef     2    (eat) by the Tartars, a tribe who invaded Europe in the Middle Ages.     3     they ate it, they used to put the meat on their horse under the saddle (马鞍) they were sitting on in order to make it soft. When the Tartar s arrived in Hamburg, the people mixed the beef with local spices, fried it and called it the Hamburg Steak. Germans who came to the USA took this recipe with them and it became known     4     a hamburger there.

People say that it was John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich,     5    invented the sandwich. Montague enjoyed playing cards in his favourite restaurant, the Beef Steak Club in London. He could     6    (find) there most days and some of his games lasted for hours. One day, instead of stopping     7    (eat) lunch, Montague asked a servant to bring him some meat between two slices of bread to prevent the cards from getting dirty. When the other players saw this, they began to order’ the same as Sandwich’, and so the sandwich got its name.

In 1889, Queen Margherita of Italy invited chef Rafaelle Esposito from his pizzaria to visit the royal palace and     8    (bake) a selection of pizzas for her.     9    (want) to impress the queen, Rafaelle made a very special pizza. It was large and topped with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs to represent the Italian flag,       10     is red, white and green. The Queen was delighted with this design and the pizza became one of her favourite foods. When people heard about this, they all wanted to try it and so the pizza Margherita was born.

Complaining: The Happiness Killer

In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “a chronic (长期的) complainer.” Are you a bit of a Greiner, Zanner? If so, you’re not alone. Survey data show that customers today are more than twice as likely to complain about a product or service as they were in 1976. A U. K.-based survey also observed a rise in job dissatisfaction over a two-year period before autumn 2022.

Complaints can be grouped into different categories. As is reported, 45 percent of complaints concern the behavior of others. For instance, parents repeatedly criticize their children for small issues like messy bedrooms or dirty clothes. Another 29 percent focus on personal discomfort. A common complaint in this category might be about feeling too hot in a room without air conditioner. The remaining 26 percent involve unpleasant obligations like unnecessary work meetings people are forced to attend.

The problem with all of these complaints is that it can feel helpful — but it typically isn’t . Although complaining might offer temporary relief, it’s bad for your happiness in the long run. Researchers who measured people’s mood before and after they complained found that those complainers’ mood was significantly worsening. Besides, complaining can also lower the happiness of the people around you. In some relationships, the negative effect can pass like a virus to those exposed. In other words, when people see others’ complaints expressing anger, disgust and sadness, they can, in turn, feel similar emotions.

As the 20th-century Bulgarian philosopher Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev observed, “Complaining is like the winter frost which, when it falls, destroys all the labors of the gardeners.”